BSE eyes Internet ad revenue, ties up with Google

The next time you log on to the Bombay Stock Exchange website, be prepared for advertisements staring at you alongside stock quotes.

indiaUpdated: Aug 22, 2010 12:10 IST

PTI

The next time you log on to the Bombay Stock Exchange website, be prepared for advertisements staring at you alongside stock quotes.

Asia's oldest stock exchange has tied up with the Internet world's current darling, Google, for cashing in on the latest advertisement garnering tool -- that is through website ads related to the content on the page.

This means that ads could be of financial products when quotes are searched for banking stocks and of mobile phones for telecom stock pages.

"BSE has tied up with Google for a couple of months initially on a trial basis for posting non-broker advertisements on its website," sources with direct knowledge of the issue said.

The BSE is experimenting with this revenue model after similar steps taken by global exchanges like the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, the source added.

The website of the Bombay Stock Exchange is the most popular stock exchange website, according to data compiled by web information company Alexa.

"The site is being visited by 1 million people in a day and the page is opened 100 million times," the study added.

The Bombay Stock Exchange is facing stiff competition from its peer, the National Stock Exchange, while another player, MCX-SX, is also vying to enter the space.

Both the BSE and NSE have been embracing new Internet-based technologies in the recent past through steps like offering quotes on micro-blogging sites like Twitter.

In order to increase its membership base, the BSE in April this year had reduced the deposit amount for new members by 90 per cent to Rs 10 lakh from the existing Rs 100 lakh.

The exchange sold a 4 per cent stake on Friday to billionaire investor George Soros for about $35 million (over Rs 160 crore).

Currently, foreign investors hold a 30 per cent stake in BSE, lower than the permissible limit of 49 per cent.